Machine for trimming fruit.



R. LISTER.

MACHINE FOR TRIMMING FRUIT.

APPLICATION FILED NARA, 1912.

Patented June 24, 1913.

3 SEBBTSBHEBT 1. v

R. LISTER.

MACHINE FOR TRIMMING FRUIT.

urmouxou FILED mum. 1912.

Patented June 24,1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

R. LISTER.

MAGHTNB F98 TRIMMING FRUIT.

urucumx FILED 11.4. 1912.

Patented June 24, 1913.

3 B13. THKEBT 8 iigaezzfr IA 'simila-rruit-l UNITED STATES PALTENT OFFICE;

ROBERT LISTER, or HONOLULU, TERRIToRY QF-- \HAWAII.

MACHINE FOR TRIMMING FRUIT.

and' useful Improvements in Machines for Trimming Fruit and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact" de'scription of the invention, such as will enable'others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. a -This invention relates to machines for trimmim fruit, particularly pineapples or.

In the; preparation of pineapples for canning,-the Irind or outer portion isremoved. "automatically and simultaneously, with the'sizing operation, by means of mag chines such as are described in the patent properly centeredin the machineto A. E. Lister, No. 978,383, dated 'Dec.' 13, 1910. hasheretofoi e been .discardedwith the seg- More 'or less good fruit, however,"

ments of-rindyvhich are produced by this process for'tthe' reasons,;that the fruit-is; larger near ;'it's middle 'thanat its ends,

jthat the fruitdoes not-grow perfectly. sym-' 'metrical," and that the fruit is not always,

The ob'ect'ofthis invention is-to produce means for trimming these segments. of rind in order that the good portion of fruit:

thereon may be utilized and not as heretQ-FT fore wasted, and a further object isj'to lgnives 11.

.Ii'evol've vvith the shaft 7;. between thefia't i bars 5 of the grid, and to adjusted so as to. cut more or less of the fruit when the Y segments are moved along onYsa-id'bars as complish this result-in a rapid-andgeflicienti manner.

My inventiencontemplates agif ld which tit e-ai s.

- form of machine for trimming fruit embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of same with the belt broken away and the stands and bearings for the drum shafts s"' are passing Specification of Letters Patent. Patented'J u h 24, 1913;

Application filed March 4,

1912. Serial No. 1,515; 4

omitted. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation the line A- B of Fig. 2.. Fig. 4. is a seetional view on a larger scale of the knife shaft and the conveyer belt. in theirre'lation to the grid.' Fig. 5 is an enlarged viewof a-portion of Fig. 3 showing-the rela tion'of" the bars of the grid to theknife shaft-and its knives. Referring the machine is preferably a casting of' the The top of the bed Inear the middle of the to the drawings, the bed 1- of shape as shown and supported by. the'legs 2.

machine is provided with a rectangular.

opening 3 to receive a gridsecured in said opening by means oftwo't'rans-verse bolts 4. I The grid consists of flat. bars 5 on edge with separators Gbetween the ends of-the bars. The bolts pass through'the bars 5 fend separatorsifi. Theflat bars 5 are paral- "lel'to thelongitudirialllcenter line of .the machine and their upper edges are"-flush1 with the top of the bed 1 around the'open-- g3. I The knife shaft-Tis journale d int-he-boxes bed 11 at about the',middle of the-machine and jdstbelow thebars {5 of the grid. A

is secured to; one- 'end of the shaft .7. Av

- plurality of. knives l1 1 are' a'djus tably .se- ,cured. to opposite sides of .the shaft 7' by w .80 89nd 9 secured {to opposite ."sidesof the.

bolts 12* which pass through said jshaftand through-elongated .ho les-oreslots .13 'in' the The knives" 11 areadapted to will hereinafter more fully appear."-

Brackets 14 15 and 16 1.7 are cast on oppoi site sides. ofthe bed 1 near the feed and'di s blmrge'ibnds of the machine respectively. Al stand 18 is adjustably secured-upon each. of;

-- these rbrackets by the stud bolts l9 which' pass through elongated holes or slots. 20 in:

said brackets. [A journal box ;-21 isbolted vto each stand 18 by bolts 22, and adjusting.

and 27V are journaled in the journal boxes 21 and are thusinountcd transversely above and near the feed and discharge ends of the machine respectively. Each of the shafts 20 and 27 is provided with afiat faced drum 28 between the journal boxes 21, said drums being preferably flanged. An endless belt 29, provided with tacks 30 or the like, is passed around the drums 28. The rear shaft 27 is provided with a driving pulley 31. Two chutes 32 and 33 preferably of wood depend from the bed 1, Fig. 1.

The operation of the machine will now be apparent. The stands 18are first adjusted on thelrfrespective brackets and the strut bolts 25 are tightened up until the belt- 29 is stretched tightly, over the drums 28, and

at the same time the shafts 26 and 27 are made parallel to each other andto the top of thebed, the journal boxes 21 being adjusted vertically by means of the screws 23 and 24. The belt 29 is usually adjusted so as to clear the top of the bed about a of an inch, this distance depending however upon the thickness of the rind of the fruitato be trimmed. The pulleys 10 and 31 are then driven in the directions as shown by the arrcwsby belts from any suitable source of power. The segments of rindare fed to the machine with the rind upward and are caught by the tacks 30 or the like in the belt 29 and are thereby dragged rearward upon the surface of the bed 1. The pressure of the belt 29, which is stretched tightly around -the drums 28,- flattens out any curvature the fruit had previous to entering between the belt and the bed. The segments soon reach the bars 5 ofthe grid and are dragged rear-- ward upon same, the pressure of the belt 29 forcing the segments downward so that the bars 5 enter the soft good portion of fruit thereon. The rind however is never lowered below the top of the bars 5 as the belt is adj usted as previously described to accomplish thisresult. The segments moving on the bars 5 in this manner soon encounter the knives 11 on the revolving shaft 7, that is the portion of good fruit which has been forced between the bars 5 encounters said knives in its path rearward, and is thereby trimmed OE and the fruit so cut falls down the chute 32, while the-rindand remaining stead of up and next to the belt, the se ment is dragged through-the machine without being trimmed, for the pressure of the belt will not cause the bars of the grid toenter the rind which .is harder than the fruit.

The rapidity with which the knives 11 revolve in relationto the speed of the belt 29 has an important bearing on the size of the pieces of fruit trimmed by the machine, for I find that with a given belt speed that increasing the speed of the knives produces a finer productand thatdecreasing the speed of the knives gives a coarser product, and it is for this reason that a cone pulley on the knife shaft is preferable.

In the foregoing description it is obvious that I have not attemptedto describe the numerous modifications which may be adopted without digressing from my inventive idea.

I claim:

1. In a fruit trimming machine, a stationary grid comprising rigid spaced bars, an endless belt for feeding the segments of fruit to be trinnnedalong said grid, and a series of knife blades operating between the bars of the grid, said knives adapted to trim the fruit from the rind as the segments pass along the grid.

2. In a fruit trimming. machine, a stationary grid, knives operating between said grid, an endless feedbelt, feed belt pulleys mounted at opposite ends of the machine, and. means for adjusting said feed belt pulleys vertically and independent means for adjusting said feed belt pulleys longitudinally of the machine 7 3. In a fruit trimming machine, a stationarygridcomprising rigid spaced bars, an endless belt for feeding the segments of fruit to be trimmed along said grid, a revolving shaft mounted below the grid, a plurality of knives carried by said shaft and operating between the-bars of the grid, and means for rotating said shaft.

at. In a machine for trimming fruit from rind segments, a rigid grid, means to press the rind segments on the grid to force the good portion of the fruit through the grid, and knives cooperating w1th said grid to trim the good portion of the fruit from the rind segments, said knivesbeing adjustable for the purpose described.

in testimony whereof I affix my signature. in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT LISTER. \"fitnesses Ronr. J. PRATT,

P. H. BURNETTE. 

